Geodesic domes



- P 9, 1970 J. D. RUTZEBECK 3,530,621

GEODESIC DOMES Filed Oct. 31, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet l 55 58 36 56 44 4 42 59 FIG.

V I0 34 as 39 L 50 24/ 29 27 gg so .ii iii 1 HUN" I N VENTOR. JOHN D. RUTZEBECK ATTorffiEYs Sept. 29, 1970 J. D. RUTZEBECK 3,530,621

GEODESIC DQMES Filed Oct. 51, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 4 JOHN D. RUTZEBECK Manx ATTORNEYS United States Patent Office 3,530,621 Patented Sept. 29, 1970 3,530,621 GEODESIC DOMES John D. Rutzebeck, P.O. Box 30, Hayward, Calif. 94543 Filed Oct. 31, 1968, Ser. No. 772,342 Int. Cl. E04b 1/32, 7 08 US. Cl. 52-81 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Geodesic dome structure and method of assembly using a predetermined number of panel or wall members of triangular shape which are held together by prefabricated clamping members engaging the adjoining panels in adjacent apexes thereof, thereby clamping these panels together. The clamping members employ 3, or 6 bolts welded together so that the bolts are radially disposed around a common weld joint.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to geodesic dome structures and method of erecting and assembly thereof.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved geodesic dome structure which is made of a predetermined number of prefabricated triangular panel or wall members held together by prefabricated clamping members engaging the adjacent apexes of adjoining triangular panels.

Another object of this invention is toprovide an improved geodesic dome structure and method of erecting such structure by providing a plurality of predetermined triangular panel members and erecting such triangular panel members into a geodesic dome structure by selecting different ones of the predetermined triangular panels and clamping adjacent apexes of these together with clamping members fabricated from a plurality of bolts welded together at a common center so that different ones of the bolts engage different ones of the adjacent apexes of adjoining triangular panels.

Other and further objects of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which it relates from the following specification, claims and drawing.

In accordance with this invention there is provided a geodesic dome structure which is adapted to be erected by relatively unskilled personnel from prefabricated triangular panels and prefabricated clamping devices which are adapted to hold the panels together. The geodesic dome structure of this invention is made of a plurality of triangular panels which are adapted to be arranged in different geometric patterns, for example, triangular, pentagonal and hexagonal patterns according to a predetermined plan depending upon the size of the geodesic dome structure. These panels are arranged in these geometric patterns and the adjacent apexes of the panels are held together by a prefabricated clamping device which employs a plurality of bolts welded together at a common center. Thus, in the case where five triangular panels are to be joined at adjacent apexes a five-bolt clamping device is employed and different ones of the bolts of this device engage different ones of the adjacent apexes of the triangular panels. Likewise where six panels are to be clamped together, a clamping device employing six bolts welded together is provided so that different ones of these bolts engage different ones of the adjacent apexes of the triangular panels.

Further details of this invention will be set forth in the following specification, claims and drawing, in which briefly:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a geodesic dome constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is an interior view of a portion of the geodesic dome shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a detail view of one of the panel joints of the dome employing a clamping device with six bolts;

FIG. 4- is a sectional view taken through one of the joints clamped together by a clamping device of this invention;

FIG. 5 is a detail view showing a clamping device employing six bolts and showing the bolts welded together at a common center;

FIG. 6 is a detail view of a clamping device employing five bolts. showing the bolts before they are welded; and

FIG. 7 is a detail view of a clamping device employing three bolts.

Referring to the drawing in detail, reference numeral 10 designates a geodesic dome structure which is erected employing a plurality of triangular panels such as the panels 11 to 44, inclusive, shown in the side view FIG. 1. A similar set of panels is provided to form the other side of the geodesic dome which is not shown in this figure. These panels may be made of suitable material such as plywood, sheet plastic and the like attached by nails, cement, glue, or other attaching means to suitable frames such as shown in FIG. 2, which will be described in detail hereinafter.

The panels 11 to 44, inclusive, are built into the dome structure by joining apexes of different numbers of these panels by spider-like clamping members such as are illustrated in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. Thus, in the structure shown in FIG. 1 the joints 45 to 60, inclusive, are formed by bringing together apexes of 6 triangular panels and employing clamping members such as shown in FIG. 5 to hold these apexes clamped together. Apexes of panels 11, 12, 13, 32, 33 and 34 are brought together at the joint 45 and held in clamped relation by one of these clamping members. Likewise, apexes of panels 15, 16, 17, 29, 30 and 31 are brought together at the joint 46 and apexes of panels 17, 18 19, 27, 28 and 29 are brought together at the joint 47. It will be noted that other apexes of panels 13, 14', 15, 31 and 32 are brought together at the five-apex joint 61 which is held together by a five-leg clamping member such as shown in FIG. 6, and other apexes of panels 19, 20, 2-1, 26 and 27 are brought together at the joint 62 and held together by another five-leg clamping member.

In the side of the structure shown in FIG. 1 the triangular panels are joined by additional six leg clamping members provided at joints 49 to 60, inclusive. At each of these joints the panels are held together in clamping relation by a clamping member such as shown in FIG. 5. In addition joints 63 to 69, inclusive, which are at the bottom of the structure are held together by three-legged clamping members such as shown in FIG. 7.

The clamping members shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are made by welding together six, five or three bolts, as the case may be, into spider like configurations to provide the six legged, five legged or three-legged clamping members respectively. In the six legged clamping members the adjacent bolts are disposed at an angle of about 60 degrees with respect to each other. In the five legged clamping members the adjacent bolts are disposed at an angle of about 72 degrees with respect to each other. The three legged clamping member is actually one half of a six legged clamping member. The bolt ends which are to be welded together are first pointed and arranged with these pointed ends adjacent to each other so that the bolts extend from a common center at which they are welded together. Thus, the six bolts 70 to 75, inclusive, shown in FIG. 5 are arranged with the pointed ends thereof adjacent to each other so that these bolts extend from a common center 76 at which the weld is provided to hold the bolts in this six legged configuration. A similar five legged configuration is shown in FIG. 6 employing five bolts 77 to 81, inclusive, which are arranged around a common center 82 at which they are welded to hold them in this configuration. The clamping device shown in FIG. 7 employs three bolts 83, 84 and 85 having the pointed ends thereof *welded together at 86 so that a three legged clamping configuration is provided.

A panel joint employing a six legged clamping member is shown in FIG. 3, and this view shows how the apexes of six panels are held clamped together. The six panels 87 to 92, inclusive, which are similar to the panels of triangular shape shown in FIG. 1 are provided with frame members 93 to 98, inclusive, respectively and the panels of these members are securely clamped or fastened to these frames. These frames may be made of any suitable material such as wood, metal or the like. Suitable blocks 99 to 104, inclusive, are provided in the adjacent apexes of frames 93 to 98, inclusive, respectively. These blocks may be attached to these frames by suitable attaching means such as glue, nails or the like. Suitable slots are provided in blocks 99 to 104, inclusive, for receiving the legs 105 to 110, inclusive respectively, of the six legged clamping member. The end portions of the bolts 105 to 110, inclusive, are threaded for receiving threaded nuts which are employed to clamp washers against the outer surfaces of the blocks 99 to 104, inclusive respectively, as shown in "FIG. 3 of the drawing.

The interior view of a portion of a geodesic dome constructed in accordance with this invention is shown in FIG. 2 in which adjacent panel apexes are held clamped together by three legged, five legged and six legged clamping devices as the case may be depending on 'whether three adjacent panel apexes, five adjacent panel apexes, or six adjacent panel apexes respectively are to be held in clamped relation.

While I have shown and described a certain preferred embodiment of the invention, it is apparent that the invention is capable of variation and modification from the form shown so that the scope thereof should be limited only to the proper scope of the claims appended hereto.

What I claim is:

1. In building structures of the goedesic dome type the combination comprising a plurality of individual panels, each of said panels having a frame attached to the sides theerof, said frames of each of said panels having the shape of a polygon with a plurality of apxes, a plurality of clamping means holding the frames of said panels assembled into groups of polygonal shapes to form the 50 shell of the building structure, a selected apex of the frame of each panel in a group being positioned adjacent to a selected apex of the frame of each of several other panels in the group, each of said adjacent apexes having a member fastened therein, each of said clamping means comprising a multiple legged clamping device having a different leg extending into different ones of said members in the adjacent apexes of the panels in a group, said legs of each of said clamping devices having means pressing on the said member associated therewith urging the adjacent apexes toward a common center so that said adjacent apexes are held wedged together by said clamping means.

2. In building structures of the geodesic dome type, the combination as set forth in claim 1, further characterized in that each of said members fastened in a frame apex is wedge shaped and said clamping means presses each said wedge shaped member toward a corresponding apex to hold the frames of adjacent panels abutting each other.

3. In building structures of the geodesic dome type, the combination as set forth in claim 1, further characterized in that said members in the adjacent apexes of each panel are provided with slots receiving legs of said clamping members, said legs having adjustable means pressing said last mentioned adjacent apxes of the corresponding ones of said frame members toward a common center.

4. In building structures of the geodesic dome type, the combination as set forth in claim 1, further characterized in that each leg of said clamping means comprises a threaded bolt and said threaded bolts are arranged to extend radially from a common center at which they are welded together with the threaded parts thereof being adjacent to the free ends thereof so that nuts may be threaded thereto for pressuring said members of said frames and urging the adjacent apexes thereof toward a common center.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,063,519 11/1962 Richter I 5281 3,197,927 8/1965 Fuller 52584 3,344,565 10/1967 Nye 5281 3,186,522 6/1965 McCauley 52-81 FOREIGN PATENTS 987,242 1965 Great Britain.

JOHN E. MURTAGH, Primary Examiner US. Cl. XJR. 52-586 

